


When in Doubt, Refrain

by Highsmith (quimtessence)



Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Chocolate Box 2016, M/M, Metafiction, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:07:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quimtessence/pseuds/Highsmith
Summary: Thoughts on a reunion.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Etnoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Etnoe/gifts).



> I wanted to AU it, but I angsted it up instead. I hope you enjoy!

If the narrative were to present, in exclusivity, Fitzwilliam Darcy's point of view in all matters heretofore introduced, the prose would be by far both more sparse and more purple. The latter would solely occur in relation to certain persons our new main character exhibits stronger emotions than is strictly seemly. If such were the case, however, the story's readership would run the peril of severely dwindling. Mr Darcy, first and foremost, would decline to crack the spine.

If pressed, however, there is one scene Mr Darcy might be tempted to expand upon, although, frankly, how can one expand on nothing?

(That is a _double entendre_. Mr Darcy is quietly ashamed of his fondness for them.)

*

He tracks them down.

He is disappointed, but perhaps more in himself than in the two persons involved. He has had many occasions to doubt himself and his motivations and his actions. The shame presses down, but that is hardly unusual. In fact, he finds felicity in the consistency.

Darcy has a duty. There is no room for doubt there.

*

He could have sent her away.

A stupid thought.

But he could have sent Lydia Bennet away with her father and taken his chance then. The certainty of one's conversation partner paying mind to one's words comes solely when in the solitude of a private conversation. Darcy has a propensity for ear-less walls.

It would have gone like this:

It would have been a scene from a play, full of artifice and a dreadful lack of proficiency in the acting craft. A confrontation. Words thrown around the room in the hopes of achieving... what?

Wickham would have sneered and thrown his confession back at him.

"Your words are hardly surprising, yet I would have found myself reticent to believe in your uttering them towards my person in such an unashamed manner."

Or perhaps a physical quarrel would have been a more fitting conclusion, yet Darcy would not be able to assure himself of the outcome of such a confrontation.

*

It didn't occur in that manner, Darcy is fully aware, yet his imaginings could have filled a book. It would have scarcely made for an enticing read, something as far from exciting as one could find.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is more than capable of lying to himself in most matters. It hardly seems worth it, however, to continue believing said lies well after the fact. After all, he has never been under the impression he would have made an interesting main character, even in his own life.


End file.
